General Chemical Corp. Trona Mine and Plant

The General Chemical Corp. Trona Mine and Plant is a soda ash, sodium, and sodium carbonate mine located in Sweetwater county, Wyoming.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: General Chemical Corp. Trona Mine and Plant
Secondary: General Chemical Corp. Mine
Secondary: Green River Facility (General Chemical)
Secondary: Green River Allied Mine
Secondary: General Chemical Green River Facility
Secondary: Alchem Trona Mine
Secondary: Allied Trona
Secondary: Allied Chemical Corp. Mine
Secondary: Allied Chemical Company Mill
Secondary: Green River Trona District

Commodity

Primary: Soda Ash
Primary: Sodium
Primary: Sodium Carbonate
Tertiary: Halite
Tertiary: Oil Shale

Location

State: Wyoming
County: Sweetwater
District: Green River Trona District

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Type: State Lease
Type: Federal Lease

Workings

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: General Chemical
Percent: 75.00
Home Office: General Chemical Industrial Products 120 Eagle Rock Avenue East Hanover, New Jersey 07936 (800) 819-8568 General Chemical Partners 20 mi west of Green River
Info Year: 2009
Years: 1968 -

Owner Name: Allied Chemical Corp.

Owner Name: Church & Dwight
Info Year: 2008

Production

Year: 2009
Material type: More than 4 million tons-per-year of trona are mined.
Year: 2009
Time Period: 1968- 2008
Material type: [per Mac Richardson, Mine Engineering Superintendant, General Chemical, email communication 11/9/09]

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: Evaporite
Plant Type: Refiner
Plant Subtype: Calcination/Dead Burn
Operation Type: Underground
Discovery Year: 1938
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: L

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Wyoming Basin

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Bedded sodium carbonate

Orebody

Name: General Chemical, bed 17
Form: TABULAR: BLANKET

Structure

Type: R
Description: Basin And Range Province; Green River Basin; East Of Overthrust Belt, South Of Wind River Mts.

Type: L
Description: Rock Springs Uplift, East Of Trona Area, Stratigraphic High During Much Of Green River Fm. Depositional Period. It Created A Barrier Restricting Water Circulation And Aiding Evaporite Precipitation.

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Trona May Be In Part A Diagenetic Product Of Reaction Between Evaporite Minerals And Na-Rich Water From The Weathering Of Andesitic Tuffs Of Green River Formation. Geochemical Studies (Parker, Et Al, 1971) Have Shown That The Green River Was Probably A Source Of Na-Rich Water. Solution Activity And Reorganization Of Material Is Evident Including Enlarged Grainsize And Secondary Redeposition Of Trona (Parker, Et Al, 1971).

Rocks

Name: Evaporite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Eocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Trona
Gangue: Nahcolite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Shortite
Gangue: Gaylussite
Gangue: Dolomite
Unknown: Oil Shale
Unknown: Halite

Comments

Comment (Ownership): Church & Dwight Co., Inc., (churchdwight.com) has a partnership operating agreement with General Chemical.

Comment (General): 3 merged and deleted records contained references as follows: 10230625 (0560370026) reported by IFOC 23-nov-1983: CAMERON ENGINEERS-WYO MINERAL IND REVIEW & FORECAST, 1969 REVISED BY MILS 10-79 10085096 (w700625) reported by Beougher, 1-AUG-1989: MINING MAGAZINE, JANUARY 1989, P. 45 ORE PRODUCTION CAPACITY GREATER THAN 4,500,000 TONNES/YEAR. [per Mac Richardson, Mine Engineering Superintendant, General Chemical, email communication 11/9/09. Changed from 3,000,000 tonnes/year to 4,500,000] 10181634 (0560370516) reported by SDSM 23-nov-1983: WYO GEOL SURV OPEN FILES

Comment (Workings): EMPLOYES 510 PEOPLE. [per Mac Richardson, Mine Engineering Superintendant, General Chemical, email communication 11/9/09. Changed from 1,200 people to 510 people] CAPACITY DOUBLED TO 2.2 MILLION TON/YR IN 1975. per Mac Richardson, Mine Engineering Superintendant, General Chemical, email communication 11/9/09. Current plant capacity 2,800,000 tons/year.] BETWEEN 1976-1979 $15 MILLION SPENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND SAFETY.

Comment (Development): VAST DEPOSIT FOUND WHILE DRILLING OIL AND GAS TEST WELL. MAJOR MINE EXPANSION 1976.

Comment (Commodity): TRONA BEDS GENERALLY OVER 90% PURE. HALITE IN BEDS LESSENS VALUE.

Comment (Deposit): PARKER, ET AL, 1971, (REF. 2) GIVES A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT OF THE GENESIS OF THE GREEN RIVER TRONA DEPOSITS, INCLUDING THE GEOCHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY, PALEOENVIRONMENT, AND THE MINING OF TRONA. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Comment (Deposit): WILKINS PEAK MEMBER OF THE GREEN RIVER FM. HAS OVER 25 EXTENSIVE TRONA BEDS RANGING UP TO 37 FEET THICK AND COVERING AN AREA UP TO 850 SQ. MILES. ELEVEN BEDS ARE OVER 6 FT THICK. A TOTAL OF 50 BILLION TONS OF TRONA ARE ESTIMATED FOR THE AREA.

References

Reference (Deposit): Dyni, J.R., and Jones, R.W., eds., 1998, Proceedings of the First International Soda Ash Converence, vol. II: Wyoming State Geological Survey Public Information Circular 40, 215 p.

Reference (Deposit): http://www.genchem.com/the-green-river-facility.asp [last accessed 09-NOV-2009] and http://www.genchem.com/pdf/Green%20River%20Soda%20Ash%20Facility.pdf [last accessed 07-jun-2010]
URL: http://www.genchem.com/the-green-river-facility.asp

Reference (Deposit): PARKER, R.B., 1971, ed., CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOLOGY, TRONA ISSUE, UNIV. OF WYOMING, V. 10, N. 1.

Reference (Deposit): USBM MINERALS YEARBOOK 1978-1979.

Reference (Deposit): MINING MAGAZINE, JANUARY 1989, P. 45.

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